EastEnders villain and 80s heart throb unrecognisable as they join TV reboot
Former EastEnders star Paul Nicholas looked unrecognisable as he prepares to play a very different role as the bumbling old Major in John Cleese’s stage adaptation of his BBC hit show Fawlty Towers.
79-year-old Paul shot to fame in the 1980s playing Vincent in the hit sitcom Just Good Friends, and was beloved by viewers for his curly blonde hair and cheeky sense of humour.
While his curly blonde locks and chiselled jawline may have won him heartthrob status in the 80s, the actor will now join the West End stage adaptation of the hit BBC series with its first run this weekend.
Paul became a household name after he played Vincent in the hit sitcom Just Good Friends from 1983 to 1986 - but his curly blonde hair is long gone and he looks unrecognisable now with no hair.
According to Daily Mail, the 79-year-old said of his new stage role: "Well, I’m at that stage in my life where Peter Pan is no longer an option.
"I’m at the age where these kinds of roles come up - I played Colonel Pickering recently and that’s not dissimilar."
His new role comes as Fawlty Towers is set to arrive at the West End stage with John Cleese returning to write and star alongside his daughter, Camilla Cleese.
The 84-year-old comedy legend has turned his talents to bringing back Fawlty Towers with his daughter. And now the Monty Python creator has adapted his hit series into a stage show which will have its first run at the Apollo Theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue in London.
The beloved show is based on a real-life hotel owner, Donald Sinclair, who ran the Gleneagles Hotel in Torquay and the couple became fascinated with his incredibly rude behaviour.
The original Fawlty Towers, written by John and Connie Booth, ran on BBC2 for two series in 1975 and 1979.
It similarly followed the unfortunate exploits of highly-strung Torquay hotelier Basil Fawlty (John Cleese) and his wife Sybil, portrayed by Prunella Scales, as they tried to keep their hotel and marriage afloat.
Now former EastEnders villain Paul will take on the role of old Major in the stage adaptation of Fawlty Towers.
But Paul first started his career as a pop star under the name Paul Dean, scoring three Top 20 hits including Reggae Like It Used To Be, and Grandma's Party.
In the 1970s he also hosted his own pop show on TV called Paul, and made appearances in movies such as See No Evil and What Became of Jack and Jill?
Paul then headed to Albert Square, and made his debut as Gavin Sullivan - Kathy Beale’s third husband - in 2015, and left the soap one year later, when his character was killed off following a kidnap plot.
As well as his role on the famous Albert Square, Paul was one of TV's most recognisable heartthrobs of the Eighties thanks to his role as Vince.
